Dissident Politics: News bits: A New Year’s resolution: Respect for the rule of law declines; Etc.

A NYT opinion by Michelle Goldberg argues for resolution to fight DJT in 2024:

Make a New Year’s Resolution to Fight Trump

Before we can fight authoritarianism, we have to fight fatalism. My great hope for 2024 is that anti-Trump Americans can transcend exhaustion, burnout and self-protective pessimism to mobilize once again for the latest most important election of our lifetimes. It’s perfectly understandable that many people galvanized by abhorrence of Trump would step back once his immediate threat to the Republic receded. The obsession with politics that took over the country during his administration was neither sustainable nor healthy. But if you don’t want an even uglier and more despairing replay of those years, the time to act is now.

One place to start is with donations to grass-roots organizations working on voter turnout, which are desperately underfunded. (The Movement Voter Project has a clickable map with links to such groups all over the country.) You can also get involved with the campaigns to put referendums protecting abortion rights on the ballot in states like Arizona and Florida, efforts that could both undo cruel abortion bans and drive voter turnout.

It’s going to be especially important next year to give people reasons to vote beyond the presidential election. .... Faced with an unenthusiastic electorate, Democrats will need down-ballot candidates who can motivate people to go the polls. Few are doing more to bring exciting new candidates into the political process than Run for Something, which recruits and trains young progressives to run for office.

“As we look to our strategy for ’24, we want to make sure especially that we’re prioritizing resources for local candidates whose races can have an impact at the top of the ticket,” said Amanda Litman, Run for Something’s co-founder. Young voters, she said, “are not particularly psyched about Joe Biden right now. But thanks to years of education and each of these special elections, they deeply understand the need to show up locally.”

Goldberg points out that while the DJT's time in office was a disaster, re-electing him will lead to far worse consequences. She referred to the situation in Turkey like this:

While Trump demonized journalists, [Turkey’s dictator] Erdogan imprisoned them. In the absence of serious state repression, Trump’s critics rarely had to hide their sentiments, making it easier to maintain hope that they, and not their freakish madman of a president, represented this country’s future. I fear that in a second Trump administration it will be much harder to keep the faith.

In a second DJT rut at dictatorship, he will try his best to impose serious state repression. His intention to do that has been made publicly and clearly.

_____________________________________________________________

The WaPO reports about new poll data that points to DJT’s and Trumpism’s ability to erode respect for the rule of law:

We can affix a number to how many of them think that Trump breaking the law for political ends is okay.

About 3 in 10.

That’s the finding of a new Fox News poll this weekend. It phrased the question thusly:

“Some people say things in the U.S. are so far off track that we need a president willing to break some rules and laws to set things right, while others say the president should always follow the rules and laws. Which comes closest to your view?”

Voters who supported Trump in 2020 were about twice as likely to endorse the break-rules-and-laws view as 2020 Biden backers. While 65 percent of Trump backers said a president should always follow the rules and the law, 30 percent said breaking rules and laws could be justified. The split among Biden voters was 83-15 against breaking rules and laws.

The new poll builds on previous polling showing a greater appetite on the right for disregarding the usual guardrails.

One of the most threatening aspects of Trumpism include fomenting open contempt for the rule of law. DJT and some or most of the elites charged with various felonies are completely unrepentant. They brazenly lie about how innocent they are and how political and biased lawsuits against them are.

In doing this, DJT has inflicted great damage by normalizing acceptance of lies, slanders, vulgarity, racism, corruption and disrespect for democracy, the rule of law, civil liberties and inconvenient facts, true truths and sound reasoning. His toxic, pro-kleptocratic dictatorship influence in this is arguably more poisonous than anyone in the last 100 years has been able to inflict. That poison can and might spread from the political authoritarian radical right to the center and left.

_____________________________________________________________

Rudi gets whacked again:

Defamed Georgia poll workers who won $148M
from Giuliani sue him again

Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman asked a federal judge to swiftly enforce last week’s massive defamation damages award before Giuliani’s assets are dissipated

Lawyers for the two Georgia election workers who won $148 million in damages from former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani last week filed a new lawsuit Monday, asking a federal judge to order him to stop repeating his damaging debunked claims about the poll workers and to immediately enforce the jury’s massive award before his assets are dissipated.

This is another example of disrespect for the rule of law that DJT and Trumpism has fomented. The pro-dictator jackass Rudi slandered the two women again with the same lies he got whacked for in his first defamation trial. Just showing up for another trial is going to cost Rudi some money. And if he loses again, as one would fully expect because he publicly asserted the same slander he got whacked for the 1st time, that will cost him more.

_____________________________________________________________

Those anti-abortionists are a persistent and feisty lot:

After Ohio Supreme Court dismisses anti-abortion arguments,
advocates work to unveil total abortion ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Anti-abortion advocates say they are working with Ohio lawmakers to put forward a total abortion ban. This comes after the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the state's appeal to enforce a near-total abortion ban.

Right now, anti-abortion advocate Austin Beigel is working with lawmakers to introduce a total abortion ban. His group, End Abortion Ohio, is a growing coalition of anti-abortion advocates and lobbyists. [They want to] create a total abortion ban, with an exception for the life of the mother. It would make the abortion procedure or abortion pill a homicide.

The cells, zygote, embryo, fetus and eventually baby-in-womb would have all the same rights as someone who is already born, meaning all criminal and civil laws would apply.

Ohio voters protected abortion rights in the recent election by putting a right to abortion in the state constitution. However, neither public opinion nor the law matters to radical right authoritarian abortion haters in Ohio. They still try to get rid of abortion in their state.

Q: Should the egg and sperm also have all the same rights as someone who is already born?

_____________________________________________________________

Poll asks whether DJT will be a dictator:

More than half of all voters believe former President Trump will act like a dictator if reelected to office, according to a new poll.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that 56 percent of those surveyed at least somewhat agree that Trump, who is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, will act like a dictator if given a second term, including almost 40 percent who strongly agree.

The poll also found that 59 percent of voters believe Democrats are unfairly trying to scare voters over Trump by saying he wants to be a dictator.

That means some rank and file Republican voters will be voting for a person they believe will be a dictator. For the 59% who believe DJT dictator warnings are merely Dem propaganda, they are clueless and/or deceived by authoritarian radical right propaganda.